Lewiston Town Board discusses proposed rec/senior center

by jmaloni

Sat, Dec 15th 2012 01:30 pm

Viewing 1 of 2

by
Terry Duffy

Plans for
a new recreation/community/senior center and a donation from an area
hazardous waste landfiller were the newsmakers at opposite ends of an
otherwise routine Lewiston Town Board work session Monday.

Members of
the recreation center committee, organized earlier by Supervisor
Steve Reiter, presented details for the complex, eyed on land
fronting Lewiston-Porter High School on Creek Road, currently owned
by the Lewiston-Porter School District. Estimated to cost $9.6
million, including land acquisition, proposed plans for the Town of
Lewiston Recreation and Senior Center envision a 140,000-square-foot
multipurpose facility. It would feature a 90,000-square-foot
multipurpose field designated for athletic uses, including baseball,
softball, soccer, lacrosse, football and volleyball. The field would
also be open to other activities, such as tournaments, conventions,
car or boat shows, trade shows and concerts.

A
7,300-square-foot area would house a college-size basketball court,
and an 18,915-square-foot area box field, which would see such uses
as indoor box lacrosse and roller hockey.

A new
Lewiston Senior Center would also occupy an estimated 6,300 square
feet of space at the site, replacing the existing 4,000-square-foot
facility on Lower River Road and also accommodating the services and
needs of Sanborn seniors. The new facility would be designed as the
needs of Lewiston Senior Center operations dictate. Reiter said one
of the project's goals would be to provide a better quality of life
for Lewiston's seniors through use of a new facility, and would
build upon plans for nearby senior housing proposed earlier by People
Inc.

"We
wanted something in the center of the community," said committee
member Ron LaDuca, of the rec/senior facility's proposed location
on the Lewiston-Porter campus. "We wanted something vibrant."

Committee
members had initially considered three locations - the current
Lew-Port site, an area on the western side of Creek Road directly
across from the Lew-Port campus, and a site on Upper Mountain Road.

"We
favored the Lewiston-Porter campus," said committee member Gary
Rose. "We saw this as an excellent fit."

The
Lewiston-Porter Board of Education has been negotiating with the town
on the land sale. Lew-Port Superintendent of Schools Chris Roser said
the district is considering a purchase price of $5,000 per acre for
the land. The land sale matter is expected to be addressed Tuesday,
Dec. 18, at the Lew-Port School Board's monthly meeting, at 6:30
p.m. in the Community Resource Center.

As to
financing, Reiter said he and the committee had been considering
three different bond payment scenarios -- 40 years, 30 years and 25
years - to pay for the center's construction. Reiter discussed
different funding options Monday, where Greenway money would be among
those used to help pay off the bond debt, and others possibly coming
via assistance from neighboring communities such as Porter and
Youngstown and also from sponsorship sources. The town currently
receives $510,000 in annual Greenway funding as a result of its
earlier participation as a host community stakeholder in the State
Power Authority 50-year relicensing agreement finalized in 2007.
Under one scenario, a 50-year bond for example, Reiter said the town
could utilize $350,000 yearly in Greenway money from the annual
$510,000 to provided to Lewiston, with remaining money - estimated
to be $35,000 - coming from such sources as funding from
neighboring communities or sponsorships.

Reiter
said that in light of the new rec/community center discussions, the
town has re-evaluated its Greenway projects at nearby Joseph Davis
State Park and decided to lower its expectations, with new plans now
limited to the boat launch facility and a campground in the park. "We
decided to scale back" on projects, said Reiter, noting concerns by
State Parks officials on the town's earlier plans. Reiter said
those two projects would total $2.5 million in Greenway improvement
money for the park. Greenway had approved up to $5.7 million in
improvement monies for JDP this past year.

Of the
rec/community center proposal, Reiter called it "a wise use of
Greenway money," adding the project "has no effect on the tax
rolls; it's taking a piece of school property and putting (it) on
the town's."

As to
operating costs, Reiter and committee members envisioned the center
would be profitable to the town from a number of its expected
operations, including revenues from use of the main fields, the
basketball court, lacrosse facilities, tennis and fitness uses, plus
those revenues from parties/ meetings, and the pro-shop and snack
shop expected to operate. The facility would be active with a variety
of uses from November through May and have an "off-season" with
uses limited to fitness and tennis memberships and other activities.

At this
writing, the proposal remains in active negotiations with the town
and the Lew-Port School District. "The Town Board will eventually
be talking directly with the school board as to what kind of
agreements will be made regarding use of the facility," said
Reiter. "Right now we envision the school will sell the property to
the town; the town will own the property, the town will own the
facility and the town will have control as far as the utilization of
it."

Once the
Lew-Port School District reaches agreement with the town on a sale of
the lands, Reiter and committee members envision an active schedule
as to future activities. By mid-January, site selection and site
reviews would be completed; and various preparations under way or
completed en route to a expected spring groundbreaking followed by an
active construction schedule. An October 2013 public use opening is
forecasted.

Roser
indicated Monday that with the likeliness of the town's
recreation/community center becoming reality, the district would be
re-evaluating its own plans for capital projects at the high school,
including the gym, and would also be considering new options for
student athletics/use at the facility.

More to
come as news develops.

Other
major news from Monday came at the end of the Town Board's work
session, where members of Residents for Responsible Government
appeared and voiced their opposition to Reiter and the Town Board
accepting a $5,000 donation from CWM Chemical Services LLC in the
form of a sponsorship to help fund operations of the Lewiston Family
Ice Rink this winter.

At issue
is what RRG members see as a conflict of interest with the town
taking money from CWM. Over the coming year, CWM is expected to
become the focus of intense state Department of Environmental
Conservation reviews and public hearings on its seeking a new toxic
waste landfill facility (Residuals Management Unit 2) and the
possibility of long-term operations expansion in Porter. RRG members
argue the donation represents CWM influences to the town in light of
its expansion plans, that other municipalities have declined CWM
sponsorships/donations and that Lewiston should do so as well. (See
RRG letter on Page 4 of today's Sentinel)

"Please
don't try my patience," said Reiter as he opened the forum to RRG
for what he called "an informal meeting. I'm only doing this
because I understand your concerns. I would like to hear your
concerns."

Reiter
added the board would not be taking any action on the matter.

RRG
comments included those by:

•Karen
Allen of Lower River Road, who argued the town should return the
$5,000 donation. "Schools have not accepted money," said Allen,
adding, "When they (CWM) are asking for their license and
expansion, this is going to look bad, like they have supported the
town."

•The
Rev. Charles Lamb, a RRG member, who said that by accepting CWM's
donation he felt that Lewiston is compromising its earlier stand on
opposing CWM expansion.

•RRG
President April Fideli, who noted Lewiston's past opposition to
CWM. "For the town to be truly effective it cannot both oppose and
support this company."

•Residents
Dennis Dueling and Margo Walker. Dueling questioned why other funding
could not be considered by the town; while Walker said the town's
taking the money raises "a conflict of interest" in light of its
stated opposition to CWM

•Resident
Amy Witryol, who questioned a CWM ad that appeared in last week's
Sentinel listing the Town of Lewiston's ice rink as one of the
company's beneficiaries in 2012. It's "very unfortunate to see
the town mentioned in a paid advertisement for a company it is
opposing," Witryol told the board. She added there's "a lot of
entities mentioned" in the ad that told her they had not received
CWM money and were surprised on their inclusion.

Witryol
also asked the board why "it cannot figure out a way" to fund
town operations, including the rink without accepting money from CWM,
particularly as the company moves to pursue a new landfill.
"Accepting $5,000 is not worth the risk" to the town as it's
being seen as condoning CWM's activities, she said.